Would?
by Eric Draven201
Summary: Dante finally asks Vergil what happened after Mallet island. The answers he gets are quite surprising. oneshot-songfic


This is a songfic centered around Vergil's explaination of his deeds and set to Alice in Chain's song, "Would". I do not claim ownership over the song nor do I over DMC. Please enjoy.

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Would?

Dante and Vergil had just finished up a rather exhausting day of sparring. The two quietly put their weapons aside, much too tired to strike up a post training conversation. Both sat panting, hot and sweaty in the small gym located in the basement of Devil May Cry. Dante pried his aching muscles off of the concrete floor and made his way to a small refrigerator in the corner of the room and returned to his bother's side, holding a can of beer in front of Vergil's face.

At the moment, Vergil's back was bent over with his head resting in between his knees. From there, Dante could see the deep scars that cris-crossed his twin's shirtless back. Vergil finally noticed Dante's gesture and gladly took the bitter-tasting beverage. Vergil sat up, pressing his bare back against the cool cinder-block wall and popped open his can. Near dehydration made him take in heaping gulps.

Dante only sipped at his. He wasn't sure if he just wasn't that thirsty or was it that he was frankly disturbed by the raised scars on Vergil's back. He had wanted to ask Vergil about it ever since he found him after his battle with Argosax. What weapons could have kept him from healing? He figured that Vergil would tell him on his own when he felt ready.

Sensing his younger brother's sly stares, Vergil finally spoke up, "You want to know what happened."

"I felt that you would tell me in due time," Dante replied.

Vergil sat his empty can down at his side and began, "For a long time I questioned, whether or not I'd be able so see past my own scars. Would I ever have maturity not to see them define me as a traitor to humans, but to my own struggle? It took me years to come to terms with it. But you want to know what caused them?"

Dante nodded. "It is good thing that we are years removed from my punishment," Vergil said with an ever slight smile. Dante saw that the smile had no warmth, only sadness.

"Why do you say that," Dante asked.

"Because you would foolishly search for revenge," Vergil returned with a mirthless chuckle.

"Was it Mundus," Dante asked his twin with his blood boiling at the mere utterance of that name.

"Yes," Vergil began, "my torture for not defeating him in the first place and my punishment for not killing you on Mallet. He thought it was important to leave a road map of pain on my body, to remind me of his dominance."

_Know me broken by my master_

A single tear welled up in Dante's ice-colored eyes as Vergil's words evoked the emotions and images from their fight at Temen-ni-Gru. He wanted to ask him why he would allow it to happen, but he listened to what his brother had to say.

"I was jealous... of you," Vergil continued, "Mother seemed to love you more. I realize now that it wasn't true. She as a giving being who would refuse to put one child over the other. It feels like during my final moments in the Demon's World, she came to visit me, to tell me that she worried about you. She told me that she was confident in me, that I could look out for myself... and you. She loved me just the same and it almost too late for me to realize that."

_Teach thee on child of love hereafter_

"You were always a soft child, so innocent. I remembered that you once cried when you saw a caterpillar die. Mother and Father died, counting on me to protect you. And I had to, by any means necessary. So I had to separate myself from you and anything else that reminded me of my humanity in order to get stronger. Unfortunately, we found each other and continued to fight like bitter enemies. I didn't want to hurt you, I only wanted power. In battle, I kept lying to myself, saying that I didn't care about you. But if I wanted to get strong enough to protect you, to protect our legacy, I had to push past you, Dante, to grab hold to Sparda's power."

_Into the flood again. Same old trip it was back then_

"It was frightening coming into power on my own and I knew that you would suffer the same if I wasn't there to help you. I wanted to share this power once I had raised the tower. Then as brothers, we could become kings of a new world order! It was the biggest mistake of my life. The lives lost, because of me and I lost you in the process. Back then, I couldn't understand why you didn't want domain over the humans."

_So I made a big mistake. Try to see it once my way_

"After I faced Mundus, I beaten, broken and made into a slave under a new name, Nelo Angelo. His dark angel... what a joke! I traded my human flesh for demonic armor and my mind left abandoned in the darkness as I blindly carried out orders. Even if I wanted to leave, his promises of power kept me rooted under his control."

_Drifting body, its sole desertion. Flying not yet quite the notion_

"Was I stupid? Too idealistic? I wanted you by my side and all of the power in the cosmos. It had always been you and I against the world. Was I foolish for trying to keep it that way?"

_Am I wrong?_

"I had done a shameful thing and I wasn't sure if I could come back to you. I couldn't show my face again. So, I stayed on that island, listening to the lies of that devil. I know that I was crazy for staying there, but still I remained."

_Have I run too far to get home? Have I gone?_

"I allowed you to believe that I was dead for so many years. I left you on your own and failed Mother and Father in the process. I thought that you were better off without me. You didn't need me to defend you anymore. Dante, you had come a long way from the child that used to get picked on by school yard bullies."

_And left you here alone_

"I made so many horrible decisions and I repent for them. But I also know that those decisions defined my character and given the same situations I would do it again, because I know now, that they were made out of love. Dante, could you struggle with doing that?"

Dante looked up, his blue eyes sharply meeting with his twin's. There was no fear, no animosity as he gazed at Vergil. He just wasn't sure that he was able to come to such a tragic conclusion. For the first time, in a long time, Dante was left speechless.

_If I would, could you?_

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